Aziz Ansari Interview

So what's this about the taco truck?

Aziz Ansari : I’m kind of obsessed with food. I like to eat. When I tour, it’s like, well, like a food tour as much as a comedy tour. I try to eat at all the weird places, the obscure barbecue joints, burger places. There are a few spots in L.A. that I’m obsessed with -- one of them is the Taco Zone taco truck on Alvarado. There are secret off-menu items that are amazing.

What are they?

AA: They’re secret.

Of course. Where else do you like?

AA: One of the big things I miss about New York is not my friends so much; it’s Shake Shack, the burger place. I miss Shake Shack.

Let’s talk a little bit about your time in New York, the times when you weren’t eating, that is. You were performing. We're sure it doesn’t seem like it to you, but things have happened fast, haven’t they? It wasn’t that long ago you were doing open mic.

AA: People think everything happened all at once, but I’ve actually been doing this for eight years. I was 18 when I started. I was hanging out with some friends and they asked if I had tried stand-up before. I hadn’t, but I thought: "What the hell?" So I went to an open mic night, and I liked it.

You make it sound easy. It wasn’t terrifying?

AA: I mean, it was terrifying the first time, but it was fun. And people laughed. So that was good. If it had continued to be terrifying, I probably would have stopped. I’m not very brave. As long as people laugh, it’s not scary.

And they’ve always laughed?

AA: Well, writing your own jokes, you just kind of keep working on something until you think it might work, and then you try it out and hope for the best. After you do a joke a few times, you have material that you know works. Although sometimes I have a joke that has worked a bunch of times and then one night it’ll flop. And that’s when I really take a hard look at myself and say: "Well, that crowd is obviously wrong. That crowd has absolutely no idea what it’s talking about."

How about performing on Parks and Recreation or in films?

AA: Also not terrifying. Mostly because I’ve been lucky. Like with Parks and Recreation, it’s so much fun because the people writing it are funny and they’re open and you just go in there and have a good time. It’s pretty much the easiest job I’ve ever had. With Human Giant, we were writing and performing and producing every show. It’s a lot of work -- fun -- but a lot of work. With Parks and Recreation, I come in and I act and then I go to my trailer and have a chicken salad and watch Breaking Bad on DVD.

With Human Giant you created a lot of memorable characters. What experiences led to creating “Randy” in Funny People?

AA: I thought it would be funny to make fun of the kind of crass, egotist comics who just talk about getting laid and making money. So Randy’s always talking about getting laid and he’s got all these annoying catch phrases and he’s kind of a dimwit. Mostly he’s about bling, about flash and sex. I just tried to imagine if, like, the rapper Soulja Boy was a comic.

You certainly proved your skills to Judd Apatow.

AA: Yes, Mr. Apatow seems to approve.

He's signed you for not one, but three films.

AA: Well, Jason Woliner and I pitched Judd an idea and he was like: "Why don’t you guys work on a few films, instead of just one?" And he’s a smart guy, so we said: "Sure, why not?"